Opportunity Exists....in Gaps

I sat under the shade of a tree, and watched swift stream. The birds on the branches of the tree were busy chattering. Squirrels moved up and down. A gentle breeze carried with it the fragrance of nature.

A middle aged man came to me and said, “I have a problem with my son; his self-esteem is very low. He is not able to get a job, which makes things worse. I am worried. What shall I do?”

Studies of successful people show that self-confidence is the most important factor in life. It can be easily understood by the stool model.

Think of a stool. If one of its four legs is weak, the stool as a whole will be weak. The four legs represent self-confidence, which have components as:

• Feeling good

• Taking responsibility

• Being accountable

• Developing skills

Feeling good involves being authentic and not insincere. Our life is a struggle involving pretensions of what we are not and in the process we do not feel good.

Reflect on this.

A Manager appeared to be busy on his phone and computer at the same time. Two persons sitting in front of him were vying for his attention.

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The Manager pretended to be busy and did not have the time even to greet them. After a while, he sought the reasons for their coming. One of them said that he had come to repair his telephone, while the other said that he had come to repair his computer.

Why do we pretend? A pretending-self creates false images in us and ultimately lowers our self-esteem. Self-esteem will improve if the pretending self is dropped.

Responsible children invariably posses good leadership qualities. It is the duty of parents to inculcate responsibility in their children and make them accountable. Such responsibility motivates them to develop new skills. This in turn builds self-confidence in them.

A research study on various successful people proved that their success was not because of knowledge or family background, but because of their ability to see gaps in any given opportunity; just the way a creeper grows on tree trunks and creates its own path for growth.

The ability to see gaps or potential and work on those gaps is the real skill in successful living. For example, even a concrete bridge, may collapse if it is repeatedly pecked by a sparrow at a particular spot a sufficient number of times.

Successful people adopt the right strategy at the right time in any given situation. Even in competition they do not create conflicts, but harmony. Successful people are able to see potential gaps in any particular business. Spotting these gaps and exploiting them call for a great skill. This is the strategy of successful people.

A politician asked a youngster, “Why Guru?”

The Youngster said, “When I see his face, I realize that God exists.”

“What do you see when you look at my face?” asked the politician.

“Even God can make mistakes,” replied the Youngster.

Keep yourself alive; rejoice to see the miracle around. See the gaps which opportunity invites to see. Cash in on the richness of life and see the dance of life. That was my advice to the worried father.

When diamonds were first discovered in Africa, there was a mad chase. A man sold his farm, started searching for diamonds and in the process lost all his money. On the other hand, the person who bought his farm, discovered diamonds in that farm itself, and became rich. Hence, the expression “There are diamonds in your own backyards.”

There are always diamonds of opportunity around us. Let us be alert to cash in on them.